Terrorist Islamic Republic of Pakistan - May 16 2009

Jamal K. Malik · Post by **Jamal K. Malik** » 26 Jun 2009 14:04

Islamabad needs to move troops from Indo-Pak border: US
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/islam ... us/481619/

Pakistan needs to move troops from its border with India to the western parts of the country to fight terrorism, a top Obama Administration official has said.

r_subramanian · Post by **r_subramanian** » 26 Jun 2009 14:15

SSridhar wrote:
r_subramanian wrote:2 soldiers martyred, 3 hurt in Muzaffarabad suicide attack

. . . . Is not Muzaffarabad in POK? Have there been violent actions against PAK soldiers there?
Of course, Muzzafarabad is in PoK. The December, 2003 suicide attack to assassinate Gen. Musharraf by two extremists was tracked down to HuJI & JeM. Mohammad Jameel, one of the two suicide car attackers was a Jaish-e-Mohammad activist from Balakot in PoK. Jameel was a resident of Torarh in Poonch district, PoK. The other suicide bomber was identified as Hazir Sultan, a Harkat al-Jehad al-Islami operative from Afghanistan’s Panjshir valley. Jameel (and Hazir Sultan) were airlifted out of Kunduz, courtesy Dick Cheney.

The whole of Pakistan, including illegally occupied areas, are terrorist in nature. Such are the wonders of the Land of the Purest.

Thanks Sridhar

shravan · Post by **shravan** » 26 Jun 2009 14:27

Jamal K. Malik wrote:
Pakistan needs to move troops from its border with India to the western parts of the country to fight terrorism, a top Obama Administration official has said.

24 May 2009,
China bigger threat than Pakistan, says IAF chief
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Indi ... 571491.cms

--------

10 Jun 2009,
IAF moving Sukhoi base to northeast to thwart Chinese threat
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Indi ... 635077.cms

--------

June 12, 2009:
Chidambaram to reduce Army role in Kashmir Valley
http://www.in.com/news/readnews-current ... 960-1.html

Chidambaram has also reportedly made the troop reduction in J & K conditional to the improvement in the security situation.

-------

Is everything orchestrated ?

r_subramanian · Post by **r_subramanian** » 26 Jun 2009 15:27

Baitullah claims Muzaffarabad suicide attack

Hakimullah Mehsud, a deputy of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, told The Associated Press the attack was launched to prove that Mehsud had not been weakened by the recent strikes on his suspected hideouts in northwest Pakistan.

It was the first suicide attack in Pakistani-administered Kashmir, according to the top administrative official in Muzaffarabad, Choudry Imtiaz.

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/daw ... abad-ha-03

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 26 Jun 2009 16:21

Pakistan troops killed in Kashmir

At least two soldiers have been killed and three others wounded by a suicide blast in Pakistani-administered Kashmir, officials say.

The Taliban has said it carried out the attack, the AP news agency reported.

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 26 Jun 2009 16:30

UK Muslims split on Taliban fight

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 26 Jun 2009 16:38

A very strange Taliban burial

These guys can get to be very uncivilized!!

RajeshA · Post by **RajeshA** » 26 Jun 2009 16:43

The next target: Turkestan Bhittani

Baitullah: Ab tera kya hoga re Kaaliya!?
Turkestani: Sarkar ka namak khaya hai!
Baitullah: To meri ab goli kha!

From Wikipedia:

Turkestan served in the Frontier Corps until his retirement in 1998 and fought alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Once allied to Baitullah Mehsud, Turkestan Bhittani disapproved of Mehsud's violent attacks against Pakistani citizens and security forces.{How can one disapprove of attacks on the kafir security forces of Pakistan, serving the agenda of USA} With the implicit support of the Pakistani military, he allied himself with Qari Zainuddin Mehsud to openly challenge Baitullah.After Zainuddin's death, Turkestan proclaimed willingness to work with the Pakistani army and American forces to combat the TTP. Turkestan Bhittani was allied to the slain Qari Zainuddin Mehsud.

RajeshA · Post by **RajeshA** » 26 Jun 2009 17:07

NRao wrote:A very strange Taliban burial

These guys can get to be very uncivilized!!

I wonder who would be the first to dig up Qari Zainuddin Mehsud's body - the Shia or the Baitullah's men! I guess it will be the latter, and within the next month, Qari would be hanging from a tree?!

Another jewel:

It was the first time I have seen security personnel and Taliban militants manning checkpoints together.

A short ceremony ensued to appoint his brother Misabhuddin as the new chief.

Speaking to the BBC, he said he would continue his brother's mission and not rest till Baitullah was dead.

"The operation in South Waziristan is the government's right and those caught up in the fighting are all terrorists," Misabhuddin said.

But he was quite clear on another point as well:

"Jihad against America and its allies in Afghanistan would continue as well."

But was not the point of the operation in South Waziristan to stop such activities? Apparently not, as far as Misabhuddin is concerned.

"Pakistan's government only has problems with the foreign militants in the area. They (Pakistan's Government) have always supported us in the jihad in Afghanistan."

Looks like American people are even more dim-witted than the Indian dhimmis. Their Government, the Congress and the Obama Administration are paying billions of dollars to the killers of American soldiers, their children. Thoooh!

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 26 Jun 2009 17:33

RajeshA, the same thoughts crossed my mind and I excerpted the same exact portions that you have posted (before I deleted my post after seeing yours). However, the USofA, has managed to successfully thwart any terrorist attack on mainland USA after 9/11. When US leaves Afghanistan, it will be a much bigger mess this time than in circa 1989 and the only country to suffer the effects will be Bharat. The biggest trouble-maker for India was and continues to be the US, not Pakistan.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 26 Jun 2009 18:40

In this TFT article, extracted below, the author describes how the great Urdu writer Qurratulain Hyder, who passed away last year, had predicted the future of Pakistan in the 50s. Qurratulain Hyder migrated to Pakistan, felt totally suffocated and returned to Bombay.

It is not a coincidence that Qurratulain Hyder, grand dame of Urdu literature, is remembered whenever we are faced with crises of state and society. Hyder was not just a fiction writer but a chronicler, for her sense of history remains unparalleled in the annals of South Asian vernacular literature. Her magnum opus “Aag Ka Darya” (AKD) was written and published in the highly contested milieu of the post-partition Indian subcontinent

. . . a passage in the novel when one of the English characters, Cyril Ashley, while traveling on a steamer to East Pakistan encounters an army officer. The scene is quintessentially Hyder. The ambience, the pace of the steamer are almost palpable. The army officer of a united Pakistan turns around and tells Ashley that he would celebrate the day West Pakistan got rid of the Eastern wing. This scene was set in the 1950s when the independence movement for Bangladesh was nowhere in sight.

“Islam! Islam has had a rough ride here. If the Pakistani team begins to lose at cricket, Islam is endangered. Every problem in the world is ultimately reduced to this word Islam. Other Muslim countries resent the fact that the sole contractors of Islam are these people from Pakistan. Everything is being upholstered with narrow-mindedness. Music, art, civilisation, learning and literature, are all being viewed from the perspective of the Mullah. Islam, which was like a rising river whose majestic flow had been augmented by so many tributaries to turn it into a cascading force, has been reduced to a muddy stream which is being enclosed from all four sides with high walls.”

The seeds of Islamism and its hideous manifestations had been sown long before the barbarism of today, which is its ripened and bitter fruit.

This passage from AKD is sadly fresh and relevant: “The joke is that those who raise the slogan of Islam with the loudest voices have nothing to do with the philosophy of this religion. The only thing they know is that the Muslims ruled Spain for 800 years, that they ruled Bharat for a thousand years, and the Ottomans kept Eastern Europe subjugated for centuries.”

In these passages, Hyder also foresees the Mohajir identity and how politically explosive it was. This was of course much before the rise of Mohajir politics. There are references to militarism when the characters recount how the new Islamic state was going to find a saviour in the form of a military ruler. The ultimate capture of Pakistani state-power by the military was also hinted at. It is as if Hyder were an oracle.

anupmisra · Post by **anupmisra** » 26 Jun 2009 19:16

SSridhar wrote:
....that they ruled Bharat for a thousand years, and the Ottomans kept Eastern Europe subjugated for centuries.”

Yeah right! Thousand years over Bharat.

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 26 Jun 2009 19:20

SSridhar wrote:In this TFT article, extracted below, the author describes how the great Urdu writer Qurratulain Hyder, who passed away last year, had predicted the future of Pakistan in the 50s. Qurratulain Hyder migrated to Pakistan, felt totally suffocated and returned to Bombay.

Available online here
http://pakteahouse.wordpress.com/2007/1 ... ain-hyder/

AjayKK · Post by **AjayKK** » 26 Jun 2009 19:31

SSridhar wrote:In this TFT article, extracted below, the author describes how the great Urdu writer Qurratulain Hyder, who passed away last year, had predicted the future of Pakistan in the 50s. Qurratulain Hyder migrated to Pakistan, felt totally suffocated and returned to Bombay.

Qurratulain Hyder was lucky. She returned back from the Land of the Pure after living only a few years.
The fate of Josh Malihabadi was worse.

During the time 0f 46-47, Urdu magazines had a huge Pak leaning.
It was being said in these that Urdu and Mussalmans would have no future as everything would be Hindi-ised. Sardar Patel thought about breaking the monopoly of the Pak leaning Urdu magazines and their grip on the Urdu speakers. He wanted an Urdu magazine/newspaper with a Bhartiya nationalist outlook.

The Urdu news paper AajKal was financed and its editor was to be found. Josh Malihabadi, an alcoholic was a comrade poet of the times. He was given editor's job for AajKal. By 1951, Sardar was gone but he had succesfully completed his project of an Indian Urdu magazine. and Josh Malihabadi got fame and appreciation and established himself as a nationalist. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1954.

When Iskander Mirza came to power around 1956, he started the "Poach Indian Muslims" project by which well known and not so well known Muslims were asked to settle in Pakistan in lieu of cash, land an some licens es fo some industry. They were portrayed as true believers who rightfully chose Pakistan over India as the home of Muslims. So Josh Malihabadi , who was comfortably living in India, one fine day migrated to Pakistan. Nehru knew before hand but did nothing to prevent him. Iskander Mirza was again delighted having score one more point over kuffar Indians. Josh Malihabadi got 50 acres and some cinema house permit.

As things happen in pakistan, Ayub Khan sent Iskander Mirza packing and our poet Josh Malihabadi fell out of favour. He was branded as Indian agent (

), all his licenses got him no businesses as financers were afraid to back him, his publisher backed out and his 50 acres of land got confiscated. More here.

Enlightenment on him, he decided to come back to India, but none was prepared to recieve him. All the light of Ummah could not save him. Finally, he met his 72 in a sad way.

RajeshA · Post by **RajeshA** » 26 Jun 2009 19:52

It is indeed amusing to learn about these personalities, who dallied between Bharat and Pakistan. In fact stories of people like Qurratulain Hyder and Josh Malihabadi should serve as reminders to Indian Muslims who may have a soft heart for Pakistan. Perhaps these stories should find home in some Thread on the lines of "Formation of Pakistan: The Real Story"; either the same thread or another one: Indian Muslims and Pakistan: A History of Disappointment.

Just my two eurocents!

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 26 Jun 2009 20:08

RajeshA wrote:It is indeed amusing to learn about these personalities, who dallied between Bharat and Pakistan. In fact stories of people like Qurratulain Hyder and Josh Malihabadi should serve as reminders to Indian Muslims who may have a soft heart for Pakistan. Perhaps these stories should find home in some Thread on the lines of "Formation of Pakistan: The Real Story"; either the same thread or another one: Indian Muslims and Pakistan: A History of Disappointment.

Just my two eurocents!

Well the last thread about Indian Muslims who might have seen Pakistan as haven was sent to its 72 in the cultural revolution.

RajeshA · Post by **RajeshA** » 26 Jun 2009 20:25

shiv wrote:Well the last thread about Indian Muslims who might have seen Pakistan as haven was sent to its 72 in the cultural revolution.

I believe it got even less raisins than 72. Too bad its raisins-d-itr were overlooked.

Arun_S · Post by **Arun_S** » 26 Jun 2009 20:35

shravan wrote:
Pakistan needs to move troops from its border with India to the western parts of the country to fight terrorism, a top Obama Administration official has said.

24 May 2009,
China bigger threat than Pakistan, says IAF chief
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Indi ... 571491.cms

--------

10 Jun 2009,
IAF moving Sukhoi base to northeast to thwart Chinese threat
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Indi ... 635077.cms

--------

June 12, 2009:
Chidambaram to reduce Army role in Kashmir Valley
http://www.in.com/news/readnews-current ... 960-1.html

Chidambaram has also reportedly made the troop reduction in J & K conditional to the improvement in the security situation.

-------

Is everything orchestrated ?

Shhhhh..... be quite !! You will be labeled "conspiracy theorist".

negi · Post by **negi** » 26 Jun 2009 20:44

^ I do not think that the movement of troops from J&K is related to Chinese military threat for the simple reason that numbers have never been an issue as far as IA is concerned.

But is this related to Unkil's desire to have PA mobilize its resources against AQ and Taliban ? ...well I don't know .

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 26 Jun 2009 20:54

RajeshA wrote:Too bad its raisins-d-itr were overseen.

Rupesh · Post by **Rupesh** » 26 Jun 2009 20:55

CAUTION:

… yes, Khalid, what can you tell us about the situation in Swat?

Well, Sameena, the situation in Swat is pretty bad, people are dying, children are starving and women are wailing!
Khalid, our viewers are well aware of the tragedy, but can you tell us any specific details about the army operation there?

Well, Sameena, the army today claimed to have entered the area of Malam Jabba and fired missiles … but what can I say, Sameena, people are dying, children are starving and women are wailing …’
Okay, so tell us a bit more about the army operation today …
This is a conspiracy, Sameena, a big conspiracy to destabilise and destroy and dismantle and demolish Pakistan! People are dying, children are starving and women are wailing …
Take it easy, Khalid. Please calm down. Give us some news on the IDPs.
Sameena, what can I say. Today our cameraman, Shakir, and I visited a refugee camp in Mardan and all I saw was sorrow, grief, pain and utter anger!
Anger against the Taliban?
Of course not, Sameena. Anger against the government, the army, the Americans, the Indians, and the El Salvadorians!
El Salvadorians?
Yes, and Tutsi and Hutu clans of Rwanda as well.
What are you talking about, Khalid?
What else can one talk about these days, Sameena? People are dying, children are starving and women are wailing …”
Khalid, please remember you are a journalist, so please try to remain calm and objective.
Calm? Calm ki ##$@##$%$#! I am a Muslim first, a proud Arab and …
Arab? But you are a Pakistani, Khalid.
Yes, but my ancestors were Arabs.
Right. Of course. Aren’t we all? Anyway, now, let’s stick to the topic. Tell us what kind of aid has so far reached the refugee camps?
Not aid, Sameena, Aids!
Aids?
Yes, what else can you expect from the infidel West!
But the West has donated millions of dollars …
Yes, only so it can use these refugee camps as human labs to create deadlier strains of the Aids virus with which it wants to wipe out all of Pakistan’s Muslim population!
Khalid, for heavens sake, you are on TV and we are a respectable TV channel! Just give us the basic details about the situation in the refugee camps. Tell us how is the government coping with the refugee influx.
The influx is not because of the Taliban, Sameena. It is because of the pre-marital fluxing going on in Karachi and Lahore!
Khalid, stop talking rubbish!
I am telling you, Sameena. Like the 2005 earthquake, this too is a curse, the wrath of God due to our sins! Repent, repent!
Okay, Khalid, please tell our viewers about the interviews you did with some of the displaced people. How are they adjusting to the tragedy?

We met this old woman, who had come on foot from Swat.
Okay, so what did she tell you about her ordeal?
She was abusing and cursing the government, the army, the Americans, the Zionists, the Indians and the Buddhists of Ceylon for her ordeal!
She was?
Yes, she was.
Did she know any Urdu?
No, she spoke Pashto.
So you know Pashto?
No, I don’t.
Then someone translated what she was saying to you?
No.
Then how did you know what she was saying?

It was obvious, Sameena. This is what every Pakistani is saying: Crush America, crush India, crush Uganda!
No, Khalid, most Pakistanis now want to crush the Taliban …

Lies! Western propaganda! The Swat people love the Taliban, they are our Muslim brothers!
But not sisters?

Huh?
Never mind. But what lies? The Taliban are committing cold-blooded murders, bombing mosques, shrines of sufi saints, chopping off heads, flogging women …
Lies, Sameena! They are really nice guys, standing up to the Americans, the Indians, the Zionists and the Mongols!
Mongols?

Yes, Sameena, Mongols.
What are you talking about, Khalid?
No, what are you talking about?
Excuse me?

No, excuse me!
Khalid?
Sameena?
Khalid, we are on national television.
Television? Television is haraam! A western conspiracy to brainwash and corrupt young Muslim minds!
But you work for a TV channel!

I do?

Yes!
Oh.

So, now can we have some real news from you then? Can you tell us if the government is planning an operation in Waziristan as well?

Damn them! Why didn’t you tell me?
Err … you’re the reporter, Khalid.
Right. Of course. But, damn them, nonetheless! This is not our war. A well thought-out plan to destroy Pakistan! I can’t take it anymore…
Khalid, what are you doing? Why are you tearing off your shirt?
This is an outrage, Salma.

My name’s Sameena.
Yes, Sakeena.

Sameena!

Right, Parveen! I just want to tell the viewers, I can’t take this injustice anymore! Crush America! Crush India! Crush Iran!

But Iran is a Muslim country, Khalid.

It is?

Yes.

Then crush Nepal! Enough is enough, God is great! Death to the infidels! Boom!

Khalid? Khalid, are you there? We seem to have lost contact with our Swat correspondent. Anyway, let’s move on to the sports news. Let’s talk to our correspondent, Bashir Ahmed, reporting from the Pakistan cricket team’s training camp at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore. Yes, Bashir.
Yes, Baajee.
You can call me Sameena. How is the training camp going?
Pretty bad, Sameena. People are dying, children are starving and women are wailing!
My God! Was there a bomb blast there?

No Sameena. But Shoaib Akhtar pulled his left calf muscle while bowling in the nets.
So?

So, I tell you, Sameena, this is a conspiracy by the Elders of Zion funding Godless multinationals and pharmaceutical companies against Pakistani cricket! This is an outrage. I can’t take it anymore…

clicky

shravan · Post by **shravan** » 26 Jun 2009 22:06

Army-police mess-up
Thursday June 25, 2009
http://statesman.com.pk/daily%20statesman.html?

Newspapers on Tuesday carried a recruitment ad on behalf of AIGP (headquarters), Abdul Majeed Khan Marwat. The ad said that 2,500 retired army men - junior commissioned officers, non-commissioned officers and sepoys - with the NWFP domicile aged between 48 and 55 years should apply for recruitment into police to serve on the posts of constables to inspectors.
.
.
There is no doubt about the fact that recent incidents of militancy have badly demoralised a section of police employees but then so have also been the personnel from other law enforcing agencies like rangers and even the army whose convoys were ambushed, intercepted, kidnapped or killed in Waziristan and elsewhere.

shravan · Post by **shravan** » 26 Jun 2009 22:10

Mattani rocket attack
Thursday June 25, 2009
http://statesman.com.pk/edit/ed2.htm

Hours before they were carried aloft on shoulders by the sobbing colleagues, the three brave police officials were dutifully guarding the dreaded Arbab Tapu check-post in Mattani area when the suspected militants hit them with a rocket. This was not the first, nor perhaps the last, time that a police party was targeted in the Mattani area causing casualties. Local vigilante group, police and the supporters of a local union council nazim have jointly as well as separately been putting up resistance to the inroads made by militants based variously in Darra Adamkhel and the Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency. It was in the vicinity of Mattani that DIG Abid Ali, while on his way from Dera Ismail Khan to Peshawar, was ambushed and assassinated during the MMA government. The law and order situation does not seem to have improved substantially over the period. The rockets land on police posts, outlaws stalk the roads and militancy still continue to take its toll in the region.

shravan · Post by **shravan** » 26 Jun 2009 22:40

3,500 militants killed in Swat, FATA: Reham Malik ...

http://www.app.com.pk/en_/index.php?opt ... 5&Itemid=2

ISLAMABAD, Jun 26 (APP): Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said that security forces have killed over 3,500 militants

in Swat and FATA together. In an interview with Financial Times, he said a good number have been injured. “The setback which the militants have received, it will take a lot of time for them

to recoup.

“In Swat we found up to 70-yard long tunnels, full of arms and ammunition. Then, there were huge ammunition depots. Then, there were training centres, mines and even rocket launchers were brought in and were taken into position. Their tactics were to attack from the cliff tops.”
.
.
Replying to a question about the strength of Baitullah Mehsud , the minister said Baitullah is hiding now. “In my assessment he has become ineffective. Moreover, there is a wedge between him and his own factions. The ‘jirga’ [tribal council] of the Mehsud tribe has warned him that he should surrender”.

I think to save Pakistan is to save Afghanistan and to save Afghanistan means to save Pakistan”.

shravan · Post by **shravan** » 26 Jun 2009 22:47

10 kg bomb diffused by bomb disposal squared
http://www.onlinenews.com.pk/details.php?id=147329

Terrorist had a plan to explode bridge in front of Khattak library and the Grand Trunk Road.

===============================================

No military operation in any part of Balochistan: Governor
http://www.onlinenews.com.pk/details.php?id=147332

QUETTA: Governor Balochistan Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Magsi has said that no military operation was being conducted in any part of Balochistan and the Chief Minister has deployed Frontier Corps in Quetta to improve law and order situation.

Kakkaji · Post by **Kakkaji** » 26 Jun 2009 23:59

Shahryar Khan's memoirs continue in this week's TFT. Some instances illustrate that the Baki Generals are bumbling idiots:

Canaries in Jordan

Shahryar Muhammad Khan
continues his engaging memoirs, this time as Pakistan’s Ambassador to Amman

In 1977, after the military coup and the overthrow of the Bhutto government, I went to the Islamabad house of Hafiz Pirzada, who was a Minister in the cabinet and also a friend of mine. My visit was purely for personal reasons, to find out how he was faring. On my arrival at his residence, I discovered that he had already been taken away to be detained. I talked to the Major in charge of the troops stationed at his house, and managed to secure permission to pack a bag full of his medicines and some other personal items. With the help of his daughter, I packed the bag and had it dispatched to Hafiz Pirzada. Friendship, I believe, transcends the vicissitudes of political fortune.

In 1978, to my surprise, the government of General Zia-ul-Haq appointed me as Pakistan’s Ambassador to Jordan. It was a posting which I thoroughly enjoyed.

I was on especially good terms with Crown Prince Hassan of Jordan, and his Pakistani wife, Sarwat, who was the daughter of Pakistan’s first Foreign Secretary, Mohammed Ikramullah and the veteran leader Begum Shaista Ikramullah. Both were very gracious to me, and I have many fond memories of the time I spent with them.

While I was able to play squash and tennis almost every day, the one sporting activity which I missed while I was in Jordan was cricket.

Crown Prince Hassan had a hut in the mountainous area known as Rajif, where he would repair for hiking and mountain excursions once every year, with his family. He invited me on one of these trips towards the end of my stay in Jordan. We set out from the hut, and I thought it would be a trek of an hour or so through the mountains.

The walk was through very difficult terrain, and I soon began to tire, as did the few security staff members who had been brought along with us. At one point, we spotted a little cave on a mountain-top, with a fire burning outside it. We moved towards it, to be greeted by a shepherd, who lived there. Crown Prince Hassan told his security entourage not to reveal his true identity as a member of the ruling family to the shepherd. We went simply as guests of the shepherd, to join him for a cup of tea. I think this is one of the ways in which the Jordanian royal family has maintained their links to the Jordanian masses, especially the Bedouins. For me, the shepherd was a typical representative of the Bedouins of Jordan, and the attitude of the Crown Prince showed him to be a man of the people.

We carried on with our arduous trek through the mountains, eventually after four hours reaching the city of Petra, nestled deep in a mountain gorge. We entered Petra by a route through the rear of the town. I was immensely relieved to find that the Prince had arranged for vehicles to transport us back to his home in Rajif. I was not prepared to admit it to anyone, but I was deadbeat by then. Close to exhaustion from the sheer effort which I had to expend during the trek, I was stiff all over my body for four days after the trek.

One night, in 1981, I received a rather strange request from President Zia-ul-Haq. He called me in the middle of the night, as he was usually inclined to do. He explained that he was very fond of keeping canaries, and that he wanted to obtain some from Jordan. Zia requested me to give the matter my special attention, and secure some canaries and have them sent back to Pakistan. He advised me to seek help from a man named Abdullah, who had been Zia’s cook when he was posted to Jordan as the Pakistani military attaché in the early 70s.

I now found myself in a rather strange position. For one, I didn’t know much about canaries. And in any case, as I found out, this was not the season when canaries could be found in large numbers in Jordan. Above all, Abdullah the cook was away on holiday, and I could not therefore obtain his help in the matter.

Nevertheless, I sent my personal assistant off to find a place where we could buy some canaries for Zia-ul-Haq. My PA was not a very bright man. He went to a location near the Syrian border, and from there, informed me that he had managed to buy some canaries. When they were brought to me, it emerged that the birds he had bought were not canaries: they were parakeets painted yellow!

Eventually, though, when Abdullah returned from home, he managed to procure twelve canaries, and they were duly sent back to Pakistan. I later enquired into their well-being from the President’s aides, and I was told that they were alive and flourishing at the President House.

I recall another particularly amusing incident from my time as the Ambassador to Jordan. It began with President Zia’s usual call at 4 o-clock, from Pakistan. After a characteristically polite start to the conversation, he informed me that he was sending a very trusted general to Jordan, virtually incognito. This general was to bring with him a message which was to be conveyed to a man in charge of the Jordanian intelligence network.

Zia told me that this man was not the formal Head of the Jordanian intelligence, but that he was closely involved in its work, and was very close to the King. He also said that he could not tell me the identity of this man over the phone, but that the general being sent to Jordan would tell me. My task was to welcome the general at my residence and take him with me to meet this man. I said I would do what was required of me.

The general from Pakistan showed up, and I welcomed him and took him to my residence. When the time came for me to introduce him to the man he was supposed to meet, he told me in a rather embarrassed way that he had forgotten the name of the man. I now found myself in quite a fix. I started mentioning the names of influential figures in Jordanian society, who I knew to be close to the King, in the hope that one of these might be the intelligence contact whom we were looking for.

Eventually, when I mentioned the name of the editor of a prominent Jordanian newspaper, the general said that this was the right man. I took him to the office of the editor, politely introduced them, and excused myself after a while, in the expectation that some sensitive information was to be passed on, and that I was not supposed to be privy to it.

I soon found out, however, that the general was wrong. This was not the man whom he was supposed to meet. It was highly embarrassing for both him and me. To the best of my information, the general returned to Pakistan without having successfully delivered his message.

I had, for some reason, always wanted to drive a train locomotive on my own. I had this opportunity in Jordan. With my children on board, I completed the locomotive run between Amman and Zarqa, thus fulfilling a longstanding wish.

Shahryar M Khan, a distinguished diplomat and former Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board lives in Lahore

Kakkaji · Post by **Kakkaji** » 27 Jun 2009 00:17

Paki 'expert' compares Paki and Indian visions, and says there is no meeting ground.

From this week's TFT:

Different strokes for different spokes

Moeed Yusuf

Indian and Pakistani visions are structurally out of sync and thus not only this thaw but all future thaws are likely to hit dead ends at some point

President Asif Ali Zardari’s meeting with Indian Premier Dr Manmohan Singh offers the first thaw in Indo-Pak relations since the Mumbai attack and raises the obvious question: will the next phase of talks be any different from previous rounds or will they remain shy of normalisation?

Short answer: the latter is more likely. Here are the reasons.

To understand the complexity of the bilateral relationship, it ought to be studied at three distinct levels – the conceptual, the strategic, and the tactical.

The rub is in the way the two sides view themselves conceptually. Consider that the South Asian region is one where member states are bound by a hub-and-spoke model. Historically, culturally, and geographically (with the exception of the Maldives), India can be envisioned as the pivot with the spokes leading to each of the states on the periphery.

Inter-state relations within the region have tended to follow a rather elegant logic. Accounting for almost 76 percent of South Asian GNP, 64 percent of the export trade, and 74 percent of the region’s population, India justifiably sees itself as a hub that ought to be allowed to retain substantial influence over the foreign policies of the periphery. Indeed, whichever state on the periphery has fallen in line with this logic has managed to improve ties with New Delhi, albeit at the cost of substantial interference by the latter.

It is remarkable how neatly the trajectory of Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Nepalese, Bhutanese, and Maldivian relations with India fits an inverse relationship with the level of assertiveness by the states on the periphery at any point in time.

The only country in the periphery that has persistently attempted to stand up to the hub is Pakistan (others have only done so at particular moments). Indeed, Pakistan’s regional policy has been driven by this singular goal: not to allow India hegemonic influence over itself, and even the region. Conceptually, then, Pakistan’s stance creates a fundamental disconnect, thereby throwing the hub and one of its spokes out of harmony. While the hub supports a hegemonic coexistence on its own terms, one spoke wants to defy exactly that.

The conceptual feeds into tangible strategic decisions taken by both sides: throughout history, India and Pakistan have been involved in one-upmanship, each attempting to force the relationship in a direction that would suit its conceptual outlook. In fact, a number of key strategic decisions are easily traceable to the conceptual.

The direction of strategic alliances is a pertinent example. The Pakistani and Indian tilt towards opposing camps during the Cold War was a means to balance the other. Pakistan’s all-weather friendship with China was also conceived as a mutually beneficial arrangement aimed at keeping India at bay. Further, Pakistan’s excessive attention to Indo-centric defence expenditures is borne of the same logic, as is the fact that Pakistan and India have always opposed the expansion of each other’s clout at world fora. Pakistan’s objection to India’s UN Security Council bid and India’s reluctance to allow Pakistan entry into groupings such as the Indian Ocean Rim Countries Association are obvious examples.

Next, Pakistan has traditionally favoured a ‘look west’ policy in a quest to escape the South Asian hub-and-spoke model. A self-portrayal of the polity as a Middle Eastern rather than a South Asian one is one of the aspects of Pakistan’s identity crisis and an outcome of the obsession to avoid Indian hegemony. Pakistan’s recent reluctance to allow integration of the two economies can be explained through the same lens. Success of liberal peace theory, which argues that trade could push all other concerns to the backburner, would amount to a failure of Pakistan’s vision of itself as more than just a “peripheral” entity.

As for India, there has been no let up in attempting to establish influence over Pakistan and punishing it for not falling in line. The break-up of Pakistan in 1971 is a good example of an instance where New Delhi saw cutting Pakistan to size as a major achievement. From New Delhi’s perspective, it was one step closer to weakening Pakistan to the point that it would be forced to behave like a pliant spoke. The current Indian policy of reaching out to Pakistan’s western neighbours – the encirclement policy as perceived in Pakistan – while aimed at extending Indian presence westward also squeezes Pakistan’s manoeuvring space as a diplomatic spin-off for New Delhi.

Finally, the strategic disharmony in outlook means that both sides have seen stirring trouble in the other’s territory as perfectly legitimate. For much of their histories, support to insurgencies and periodic acts of violence perpetrated against the other have been a major part of the terms of reference for intelligence agencies on both sides.

The causal chain is completed by the third-tier of analysis: tactical policies on specific issues. If the conceptual thesis has merit and if the inferred strategic implications are valid, then tactically, a disconnect on major issues is inevitable.

Kashmir is undoubtedly the bone of contention. Traditionally, maximalist stances flowed out of concern about the hub-and-spoke model. Giving up on Kashmir would in and of itself have meant an irreparable loss to the loser’s South Asian vision.

Interestingly, the severity of divergence on the issue is evident from the fact that when Pakistani domestic troubles have forced it to show considerable flexibility and essentially leave it amenable to solutions that provide a face-saver, the Indian calculation still does not warrant any concessions. The fact is that Indian political realities do not support any solution that involves a Pakistani role in Indian-occupied Kashmir. India’s progression in terms of its global stature has made it even less accepting of balanced negotiations with Pakistan. Moreover, with most external actors weighing in on its side, it sees no need to alter the status quo. Stubbornness on its part strengthens its vision of the South Asian hub-and-spoke model; concessions would imply a weakening of the pivot.

Trade between India and Pakistan is another much-debated concern. For one, realising that the integration of economies on India’s terms is a non-starter, New Delhi has sought to punish Pakistan by isolating it from the trade regime. Consider that all sub-regional or extra-regional trade arrangements involving India keep Pakistan out. Pakistan on its part has looked westward and engaged bilaterally with regional actors to avoid Indian clout.

Also, trade complementarities between the two sides are not a foregone conclusion. Despite widespread rhetoric, a number of recent studies point to the similar production structures of the two economies to dampen some of the euphoric pronouncements.

For Pakistan, the bad news is that the short run will entail disproportionate gains for India. While long term balancing is possible, this may require a virtual transformation in production structures across various sectors with attendant domestic negative spin-offs. Not to mention, given that a bulk of the near-term gains in bilateral trade are likely to come through the switching of current trade relationships to new customers within the two countries, in a scenario where past experiences point to unreliability of the adversary in terms of fulfilling trade obligations, business communities in Pakistan (and for that matter India) are sure to consider such diversion a high-risk proposition. In short, enhanced trade does not fit Pakistan’s South Asian vision neatly.

To cite another current example, India’s transit trade facility to Afghanistan is contentious for the same reason. Rhetoric aside, India itself is reluctant to use the land route without extensive guarantees by Pakistan. This is understandable given that under no circumstances does it want to be held hostage to Pakistan. Neither does it want to give Pakistan such a central position in its outreach to Central Asia. This is why India has chosen to invest in an economically uncompetitive land route from Iran to Afghanistan, thereby foregoing the available option of utilising the Karachi port.

On transit trade, Pakistan’s concerns are the opposite. It would be amenable as long as it is not asked to furnish any special guarantees to India. Doing so would imply losing an important leverage point vis-à-vis New Delhi. Moreover, even a successful arrangement would ultimately imply increased Indian clout in Afghanistan, a possibility Pakistan is highly allergic to at present.

Let us now come back to the question posed at the outset: is the current thaw different?

The above analysis provides a clear answer: Indian and Pakistan visions are structurally out of sync and thus not only this round but all future rounds are likely to hit dead ends at some point. How can this change?

There are two possibilities: One, the Indian vision succeeds in that Pakistan becomes so weak that it has no option but to fall in line. The Kashmiri status quo would then become permanent, trade would be liberalised, transit trade with excessive guarantees provided, and so on so forth. Judging by Pakistan’s obsession not to allow this to happen despite its life-threatening problems at present, such a scenario would require a further deterioration of the Pakistani state. Essentially, we are talking state collapse.

This can be ruled out for the time being for two reasons. First, militarily, nuclear weapons and India’s growing concern about projecting maturity as a global actor have taken away all force-based Indian options. Second, the world, including India, realises the consequences in terms of the spread of terrorism should Pakistan implode. No one is willing to take that risk.

The second option is that Pakistan asserts itself successfully by closing the gap between itself and India’s might. Here, India may see the need to alter its South Asian vision lest it be permanently held back from its global aspirations, thanks to continuing tensions with Pakistan.

By all accounts, India’s growth trajectory makes this unrealistic. Pakistan is even unlikely to be able to keep its current level of disparity vis-à-vis New Delhi in the coming years. In short, outright conflict remains unlikely; yet complete normalisation is a far cry at the moment.

The writer is a research fellow at the Strategic and Economic Policy Research (Pvt Ltd.) in Islamabad. He can be contacted at [email protected]

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 27 Jun 2009 06:32

Senator Durrani moves bill for creation of new provinces
(End of Pakjabi Dominion)
http://www.thepakistaninewspaper.com/ne ... p?id=14013
""India used to have just 16 provinces, but has now created 12 new ones for better administration," he remarked.
Historic injustice: To a question, Durrani said the restoration of Bahawalpur’s provincial status would correct the historic injustice done by the late dictator General Yahya Khan, who merged the province into Punjab, defying a commitment made by the Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. He said the denial of rights to the people of Bahawalpur had taken its toll on the security and solidarity of the federation. It is time, he said, for the state to redress the miseries of the poor.
Durrani said there was a strong sense of deprivation amongst the people of under-developed areas, especially in southern Punjab. The only solution to these problems was the creation of smaller, more governable units, he first

"

Dipanker · Post by **Dipanker** » 27 Jun 2009 06:43

....that they ruled Bharat for a thousand years, and the Ottomans kept Eastern Europe subjugated for centuries.”

[/quote]

Yeah right! Thousand years over Bharat.[/quote]

Madarssa math at work.

Delhi Sultanat begins: 1206
Aurangjeb dies: 1707 (?)

1707 - 1206 = 100,000,000,000 years = thousand years

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 27 Jun 2009 06:45

Setting Waziristan ablaze
Roedad Khan

Jinnah's Pakistan, I regret to say, has ceased to be a sovereign, independent state. Today it is not just a "rentier state," not just a client state. It is a slave state with a puppet government set up by Washington.
( My impression was Jinnah Fondled Pakistan but rented Mussharraf to Amrikhan)

Euripides said: "Whom the Gods destroy, they first make mad." ( Euripides was aplay writer not a wise man and loved Pissing match even as a grown man and its no joke)
W At a time when Pakistan is extremely ill-prepared for adventurism on any serious scale, with the war in Malakand still not conclusively won and over three million internally displaced persons--men, women and children--living under inhuman conditions in Mardan and Swabi, this government decided to open a second front against its own people in Waziristan. The match is lit, the blaze will soon spread like wildfire throughout the tribal areas and beyond. That is for sure. The decision to launch a military operation in this highly sensitive border region is ill-conceived, ill-advised, ill-timed, and would almost certainly turn into a prolonged bloody conflict and, in time, prove a massive self-inflicted wound.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 27 Jun 2009 06:53

India dictates terms of the dialogue
By I Nalayakullah

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news- ... e-dialogue
The fact of the matter is that India is no friend of Pakistan. It has done so much to harm Pakistan. One is tempted here to recall Indra Gandhi's words when she invaded East Pakistan that she was taking one thousand years revenge. Also how at the end of Rath Yatra, Babri Masjid was dramatically razed to the ground. How after the testing of the nuclear bombs by India, threats were hurled at Pakistan by the then Indian home minister. How presently India has according to a well-laid out plan been stealing water from the rivers flowing into Pakistan. How repeatedly India's involvement in the trouble brewing in the Balochistan has been underscored by senior government functionaries and the international media.
Under pressure from USA, New Delhi reluctantly will be resuming the peace process. It is not willing to talk about Kashmir. To begin with only terrorism can be discussed. US wants some sort of normalisation even if the Kashmir issue remains unsettled. It wishes to persuade Pakistan to accept India as the big brother and inter alia, move troops to the west to do more against US' enemies.
A most interesting article contributed by Raja Mohan in the Indian Express reveals the Indian mind. India he writes may agree to restart a dialogue. It will be a step towards the "reconstitution of our strategy towards Pakistan rather than a return to the framework" that existed earlier. The "engagement" will be "reframed". He cites three assumptions. One: New Delhi is to "treat our western neighbour as a black box." Work for a "systematic change" in Pakistan and for "a deliberate political outreach to the full spectrum of the state and society" (to tame various influential elements). Two: After Musharraf, the army under Kayani has to view "as the main obstacle to a lasting reconciliation....Civilian leadership including Zardari is to be engaged in tandem with other major powers." Three: "A self-confident New Delhi" (with Washington as a close friend and ally) need no longer stick to bilateralism alone. Mark Raja's words: India "should be exploring instead, ways to leverage America's weight and current interest in AfPak region to produce positive change across the border."

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 27 Jun 2009 07:20

Someone needs to remind Nalayakullah Saheb that when one has a thorn in the foot it is normal to remove it - which ever way is convenient at that point in time.

Guddu · Post by **Guddu** » 27 Jun 2009 08:11

NRao wrote:Pakistan troops killed in Kashmir

At least two soldiers have been killed and three others wounded by a suicide blast in Pakistani-administered Kashmir, officials say.

The Taliban has said it carried out the attack, the AP news agency reported.

This killing is the start of a new chapter for Baitullah. Some excerpts from Strat.

"The successful deployment of a suicide bomber in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir likely will have two immediate consequences. While sending the message that the TTP can strike at Pakistani forces wherever it pleases (an ability also emphasized by recent attacks in Lahore), it could also exacerbate tensions between Pakistan and India.

Although the TTP may be suffering losses on its home turf because of Pakistan’s military efforts in Swat and Waziristan, it is trying to keep the military off balance by exploiting Pakistan’s bigger military liability — its border with India. Pakistan has been asking the United States to get India to scale down its forces along the border so that Islamabad can redeploy troops to fight the Taliban in the west. The Indians have flatly rejected the idea, believing Pakistan could use it as an opportunity to ramp up Kashmiri militant activity.

With the June 26 attack, the Indians have to deal not only with the Pakistani-backed groups, but also with a potential shift in the security environment on the Pakistani side, which will make New Delhi even more adamantly opposed to scaling down its military presence. This means any Pakistani designs to redeploy troops from its eastern border to its western one most likely will not be realized, denying Islamabad the ability to devote more resources to the Taliban fight. Clearly, it is in the TTP’s best interest to make relations between Pakistan and India as contentious as possible. Heightened tension would prevent Pakistan from redeploying troops from the Indian border to northwestern Pakistan to reinforce its escalating military operations in South Waziristan and consolidate its gains in Swat.

And the June 26 bombing is unlikely the last TTP attack in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir. Situated in an isolated valley five hours from Islamabad by car through winding mountain roads, Muzaffarabad is not a feasible destination for a single suicide bomber traveling from inside Pakistan. It is much more likely that the TTP already has people on the ground in the region, having leveraged its alliance with Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), a Punjab-Kashmiri militant group that was once under Islamabad’s control. This would give the Pashtun-dominated TTP an entry into Pakistani-controlled Kashmir.

This raises yet another question for the Pakistanis: Who can they trust among the Kashmiri militants? Any attack like the June 26 bombing will warrant close investigation by Pakistan to determine who is responsible for attacking its troops. This could raise uncomfortable questions about how much allegiance Kashmiri groups have — or do not have — to Islamabad.

It also complicates Pakistani efforts to exert control over groups such as LeT and JuD and more rebellious groups such as the TTP. With Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence directorate losing its grip over these militant assets and LeT crossing over into the realm of transnational jihadists (as evidenced by the Mumbai attacks), the potential for these groups to work with enemies of the state like the TTP is much higher.

Essentially, Pakistan is stuck between fighting an Islamist militant insurgency in the west and hedging against its traditional rival, India, in the east. It is a weakness the TTP has exploited by conducting a relatively simple, cost-effective attack that announces its presence and diverts Pakistan’s attention to the east."

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 27 Jun 2009 09:29

Dipanker wrote:
....that they ruled Bharat for a thousand years, and the Ottomans kept Eastern Europe subjugated for centuries.”

Yeah right! Thousand years over Bharat.[/quote]

Madarssa math at work.

Delhi Sultanat begins: 1206
Aurangjeb dies: 1707 (?)

1707 - 1206 = 100,000,000,000 years = thousand years[/quote]

Don't forget the 1:10 ratio when it comes to kufr SDRE Hindus.

shravan · Post by **shravan** » 27 Jun 2009 10:44

NRao wrote:Pakistan troops killed in Kashmir

At least two soldiers have been killed and three others wounded by a suicide blast in Pakistani-administered Kashmir, officials say.

Jun 26, 2009
Pakistan needs to move troops from its border with India to the western parts of the country to fight terrorism, a top Obama Administration official has said.

----

It seems like the great game of chess is being played.

Airavat · Post by **Airavat** » 27 Jun 2009 13:32

Dipanker wrote:
Yeah right! Thousand years over Bharat.
Madarssa math at work.

Delhi Sultanat begins: 1206
Aurangjeb dies: 1707 (?)

1707 - 1206 = 100,000,000,000 years = thousand years

What they mean is ruled or existed IN Bharat......any state representing Muslim power, however insignificant, which may have existed at any point in history. Whether the early Arab state in Sindh or the Mughal-offshoot of latter-day Hyderabad.

vsudhir · Post by **vsudhir** » 27 Jun 2009 15:38

India not a threat to Pak: Army chief

HEadline was misleading onlee. Moi boor heart skipped a beat only. Turns out twas the IA chief saying that, not kiyani.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 27 Jun 2009 16:13

What TSP expects from the US vis-a-vis India

There is a need to realise that what stands in the way of normalisation are crucial issues that cannot be papered over. As long as they are not addressed, there is little hope of Pakistan devoting all energies to its fights against the militants. Prime Minister Gilani has mentioned the two most pressing problems, to wit, Kashmir and water disputes. {Just note that these are two issues to start with and others will follow as times go by.}

Many in Pakistan felt betrayed when the issue of Kashmir remained unresolved despite Pakistan becoming a front line state in President Bush's War on Terror. They don't want this to be repeated.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 27 Jun 2009 16:21

Pakistan's new ambassador to France

The government has appointed a Grade 20 DMG officer currently serving as secretary livestock in the Punjab Government as the new ambassador to France. Irrespective of the personality involved, first and foremost, this is a demeaning gesture to France. . . . By sending a DMG type non-diplomat of Joint Secretary rank with no eminence at any level, you are sending a wrong signal to the government of a friendly country. . . . the provincial secretary livestock is not an ambassadorial material, and despite his claims to the contrary, he is no match to scores of qualified, trained, experienced and hardcore, professionally eligible Foreign Service officers who have been waiting in line for quite some time for their turn to be considered for a senior and important ambassadorial assignment. . . the best thing will be to send him to a country where he could contribute to promoting bilateral "livestock" relations.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 27 Jun 2009 16:26

India dictates terms of dialogue

The fact of the matter is that India is no friend of Pakistan. It has done so much to harm Pakistan. One is tempted here to recall Indra Gandhi's words when she invaded East Pakistan that she was taking one thousand years revenge. Also how at the end of Rath Yatra, Babri Masjid was dramatically razed to the ground. {Anything Islamic in India belongs to Pakistan}